The Lagos State Government says it is currently making an average monthly Internally Generated Revenue of N34bn from an average of 30bn in 2017.

The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, said this on Monday in Ikeja at the briefing of the ministry to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration.

He said, “We are recording gradual improvement in our average monthly IGR in 2018 compared to the levels achieved in previous years due to the impact of ongoing reforms and growth in the state’s economy.

“Based on our first quarter results, Lagos State has so far achieved an average monthly IGR of N34bn in 2018 compared to monthly averages of N22bn, N24bn and N30bn in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.”

The commissioner expressed optimism that the IGR would rise as the state continued to implement its reforms, adding that the target was to grow the IGR to N50bn.

“The target we set for ourselves is N50bn; we know it is a marathon, we will win some and we will lose some, but we are committed towards ensuring that we meet the target,” Ashade said.

On federal transfers, the commissioner said since Lagos joined the league of oil producing states, the government had received a total of N327m, comprising N197m and N130m received in 2017 and first quarter of 2018.

“Also, we are discussing with the Federal Government towards obtaining a refund of the expenditure totalling N51bn that was incurred by the state on behalf of the Federal Government for infrastructure developments in the state,” he said.

Ashade said the government’s debt stock, comprising 48 per cent local debt and 52 per cent foreign debt, currently stood at N874.38bn at the end of 2017 while the debt service charge to total revenue ratio, which stood at 17.61 per cent, was still within the World Bank’s threshold of 30 per cent.